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Irwin Unibit step drill bits have always been a personal favorite of mine. Sure, they cost more than some other step bits you could buy, but they deliver consistent performance and are made in the USA.

Step drill bits are specially designed multi-sized drill bits, and their “steps” allow you to cut progressively larger holes in thin materials, typically sheet metal, during a single operation. Basically, it drills a series of larger and larger holes until you reach your desired hole size.

I visited a Lowes store today, to see if they had any of the new Dewalt 12V Max Xtreme Subcompact cordless power tools in stock (they don’t), and took a walk through the tool aisle.

On a whim, I picked up an Irwin Unibit drill bit, size no. 4, and checked the back of its packaging.

Made in China?!

MADE IN CHINA?!

I checked another size. Made in China.

I checked all of the individual sizes, and they were all marked the same.

There was also three 3-packs, and they were marked Made in USA.

I flipped through some more of the inventory. With one of the sizes, the front-most product on the peg, with a 2018 copyright notice, is marked Made in China. The second, with a 2017 copyright notice, is marked Made in USA.

If this is indicative of a widespread change, and not a limited fluke occurrence of some kind, well that’s just disappointed. I was pretty bummed out about this at the store. Maybe it’s just some SKUs? SKUs at some stores? Maybe… maybe this… I’m sorry, I’m out of ideas.

The simplest possible explanation is that Stanley Black & Decker moved production overseas. It’s possible that they were compelled to, such as if the production facility was not included in their purchase of Irwin and Lenox brands from Rubbermaid.

Whatever the reason, even if the sourcing change was perhaps unavoidable, it’s still disappointing to see.

Luckily, there are still some step drill bits made in the USA, such as Milwaukee’s (which are impact-rated and noticeably more expensive). Specific Klein step drill bits were made in the USA, or at least they were the last time I checked.

There is an important question to ask, and that’s whether it matters where these Irwin Unibit step drill bits are made. To me, yes. There are very many far less expensive step drill bits that are made overseas, such as by Neiko, a popular brand sold at Amazon (and perhaps elsewhere, but that’s the only place I see them).

I don’t use step drill bits daily, but I do use them fairly regularly. I use step drills enough that I want consistent quality and high performance, but not often enough where I need to be very conscious about pricing. So, I tend to spend a little more on Irwin Unibit bits, and I do so assured of a positive experience similar to past experiences with the same or other sizes of Unibit step drills. That they were made here and helped support domestic jobs added further justification to the higher price, even though so many people have been vouching for less expensive and lesser-known brands.

I find myself thinking that Stanley Black & Decker must have taken precautions to preserve Irwin Unibit drill bit quality. Surely, even if users don’t notice the updated country of origin information, they’ll notice if the bits don’t cut as fast or don’t last quite as long.

So, performance-wise, it might not matter. Or maybe it does. Even with similar equipment, resultant products don’t always turn out identical.

The fact of the matter is that there are too many unknowns. We simply don’t have any insights into why this change was made.

There are only two things I know for certain. 1) The Irwin Unibit drill bits at my closest Lowes store are marked as being made in China. 2) That bums me out.

I might seek out more answers, but I’m not sure this is something I’ll feel better about.

Thoughts?

Update: Why I Don’t Like Sourcing Changes Like This

Let’s say there is a bakery and they’re well-known all around for their chocolate cakes. They’ve baked those cakes for years, and they’ve gotten very good at it. You can take their recipe and send it to a different bakery, one that makes all kinds of baked goods, but very often, the new product just won’t taste the same. Something gets lost along the way. Maybe the cocoa is different. NYC is known for thin-crust pizza and its bagels, two types of foods that don’t quite taste the same anywhere else. It’s widely believed that the difference is in the water. You have the same oven, the same ingredients, the same recipe, but still things will be different.

I don’t like changes. There is also the question about why production was moved? Product production is typically moved to other countries to lower costs. If or when that is the reason, the next question is whether other or additional measures are taken to lower costs. When that happens, the “recipe” can change in a way where appearances might remain the same but the user experience changes. The uncertainty in all that adds to my frustrations.

66 Comments

I’m not that picky about COO, but it is a nice shortcut when I don’t know a lot about a particular product. Certainly moving from American to Chinese production means I wouldn’t innately trust this bit if I picked it up in store (since step bits fall into the category of tools I don’t know a lot about). If reviews remained positive though, I’d be ok with it.

1) Because it was an unexpected change to what I believe to be a constant.

2) Because Stanley Black & Decker seems intent to bring more Craftsman tool production back to the USA, and I thought that would include efforts to preserve current USA manufacturing. Perhaps this was out of their control, but that doesn’t change the outcome.

That’s why in tool accessories if you see US or German made you should buy two or three , expecting that it will become made in China soon. I always do, also I always check eBay for old stock items. Surprisingly you will find US made old stock items cheaper than new stock Chinese made ones.

I picked one up last week and noticed this too. There were a few made in USA bits mixed in and that’s the one I got. I noticed that the sizing marks on the made in china bits were much crisper and cleaner. I wonder if that’s indicative of the quality of the bit? I also like to buy made in USA when possible it it made me wonder if my assumption of higher quality is off base.

Could be a number of things – the first one I would think of is new tools for China so that portion hasn’t worn yet. The USA tools could be being saved for rebranding to a ‘more prestigious’ product line.

Although I am saddened by the loss of US made options. I cannot jump on board the blind nationalism train that many others love to ride. I do generally prefer US or European brands but only when they are actually the best quality. I don’t like cheap junk or overpriced average quality regardless of where it was made.

When it comes to step drill bit I think that the Irwin Unibit was middle of the pack at best. I work for a industrial control panel shop and we have tried all of the commonly available step drill bits and have traditionally used Greenlee and Lenox as both have two cutting flutes and both drill faster and last longer than any Irwin that we tried. Recently we have switched over to German made Ruko (branded as Hertal from MSC) which have two spiral flutes and seem to be measurably better than Greenlee or Lenox

I also have had several Dewalt ones and while they may look cheap in my opinion they preform extremely well on par with the Ruko ones. the first 1/2″ one I purchased was in service as my main one for 8 years and made several thousand holes with at least several hundred in stainless. If it wasn’t for the last step being consistently undersized by a few thousandths we would have picked them as our first choice in our shop.

Country of origin and price do not always tell the whole story, every now and then you get surprised by something that exceeds you expectations.

I still have yet to see a Chinese twist drill bit or tap that was comparable to the quality US or European brands though

I’ll have to try those brands too, thank you! For some reason I always assumed Greenlee’s step drills were made by other company.

I’ve generally been pleased with Hertel tooling, and looking at MSC their step drills are very reasonably priced. $18.50 for an Irwin #1 (1/8″ to 1/2″ in 13 sizes) (via Amazon), or $21.76 as the “web price” for the Hertel (via MSC).

I always picked Irwin step bits as a cheap alternative to greenlee, but I generally disapprove of unibits in construction all around. Guys too often rely solely on some worn out unibit for all their hole making, skipping hole saws to save money or something, and end up making crappy bevelled holes in everything thicker than a step, and then threading connectors and pipes and whatever into holes that should have a smooth pass and a lock ring on the other side. And why, even when you use yours at the correct place and time, does some dip always tries using it in stainless and destroys the 1⅛ or 1⅜” step? Anyway, yeah, I never knew that Irwin was positioned as great quality in unibits, though I did have a set of hss Cobalts from Irwin that lasted me a surprisingly long while. I’ve always advise new guys to go Irwin with their first personal purchase, as company replacements will usually be Milwaukee or something else higher quality, and save them some money.

I hope they keep the quality up but I wouldn’t count on it. Black and Decker Piranha circular saw blades were among the best I ever used for decking when they were made in the USA. The made in China ones are a poor substitute at best. Bought a bunch of the USA made ones off eBay while I could still find them

The reason that companies switch to manufacturing things overseas is simple. We Americans are conditioned to wanting to purchase things at the best possible price. In order to stay competitive in the market place, companies simply cannot afford to pay what it costs to manufacture most products in the USA. The main reason for this is the impossible and unsustainable formula of our economy. What I mean by this is that in order for a company to pay their employees a “living wage” as well as pay insurance, taxes, rent or mortgage, license fees, utilities, etc…, they have to price their product or service at a level that will not only cover those expenses, but allow them to make some sort of profit. If prices rise on things people purchase, and employees have to make more income, employers are forced to raise their prices or reduce their costs. Often this results in companies either moving manufacturing overseas or buying foreign materials.

Sure, labor is always cited as the major cost, but another consideration – cost of compliance with environmental regulations. In China – no worries, even when there is a ‘law’, it can be bought. I lived there several years and saw the results…

100 years of the Federal Reserve printing money devaluing the purchasing power of the individual dollar, fractional reserve banking being in existence, and abuse of ip and patent laws to enforce the existence of corporations have created the monster you describe. Won’t go away any time soon unless the bubble bursts once again.

Again, it’s about having expectations and constants changing suddenly. It’s like having a favorite dessert at a restaurant and one day finding that they changed from home-made brownies to frozen brownies. Or freshly ground beef burgers vs. factory-ground beef.

A few years ago, prior to being acquired by Stanley Black & Decker, Irwin shifted Vise-Grip production from the USA to overseas. I was unhappy about that too. Recently, Stanley Black & Decker started updating Irwin’s locking pliers. https://toolguyd.com/irwin-improved-vise-grip-locking-pliers/ It’d be better if SBD were able to bring production back here, but in the absence of that, updates and improvements to the products are still welcome. Not even their premium Proto brand makes locking pliers here, they have an OEM relationship with Grip-On, an excellent brand that makes locking pliers in Spain. Context matters.

If Unibit production being moved to China disappoints me, it disappoints me. That doesn’t have to extend to cordless power tool production.

Select Dewalt cordless tools are assembled here (I’ve seen it in person! https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-brushless-drill-building-and-factory-tour/), and as far as I am aware, Milwaukee corded Sawzall reciprocating saws are still made here. A number of Milwaukee accessories, such as hole saws, reciprocating saw blades, select/most utility knife blades, step drill bits, and I believe oscillating multi-tool blades, are made here. Other brands (beyond SBD and Milwaukee) have less manufacturing presence here (if anything).

I don’t keep a formal tally of what is made here and what isn’t, but I do take notice of when sourcing changes unexpectedly.

I get the dessert analogy. Reminded me of Krispy Kreme donuts here. They used to be delivered to stores freshly baked each morning. Most places would be sold out by 8am they were so popular. Then to cut costs they sent frozen donuts to the stores that had to then be thawed at room temperature. No more fresh delivery trucks at 4am each morning. Just once a week frozen deliveries. After that happened you could go anywhere and there would be a full stock of donuts still at 3 in the afternoon. They lost customers and fast. Soon, all of their bakeries in our area closed and nobody carries their product any longer. Not saying Irwin is Krispy Kreme but people get used to something and they are loyal. You go and change that, they might not be so loyal anymore. Craftsman was the poster child for that.

Chinese coal has massively higher sulfur content which makes it weaker and shows up in the steel. They literally do not have even Virginia grade coals which are high sulfur by our standards. Most noncoametic steels especially European also has high levels of phosphorous which makes it brittle. Tool steels that are US made use iron that comes from one of the minds surrounding Lake Superior either in Canada, Michigan, or Minnesota. 80% of new steel comes from there. It makes a difference but the provenance of the coke also matters because any mineralized elements such as sulfur stay in the coke. In the US we generally worry less about the cheapest source of raw material especially if it affects quality and cheating or theft is generally less of an issue since our business law is based on a principle of seller beware. In China the tables are flipped, it’s all buyer beware, and cheating, theft of intellectual property, etc., are all time honored traditions. I’ve seen both honest and dishonest problems at the manufacturing level all but destroy companies that get involved. It’s just as bad as when Wal-Mart sends a product specialist to your plant to tell you how to run your business (destroy the quality and profits). So even if it’s made in China but owned (49%) by SBD and inspected by SBD, there should be no expectation of a quality product. Maybe an impact socket made for HF but never a tool steel.

Yep. The reasons you stated are why there’s no point in bothering with Chinesium drill bits of any flavor. If you’re drilling anything other than wood they don’t last no matter the brand or composition. I completely purged my shop of any and all Chinese drill bits some time back and have been much happier for the effort.

When do we sell off the Great Lakes to China? This is hardly the first case but Scott Walker and the GOP made a big deal with Foxconn in 2018. It wasn’t really selling the Great Lakes to China, though. They gave Foxconn massive subsidies for the project and went on to waive environmental protections over the objections of the EPA, neighboring states, and others.

Would be interesting to know where Taiwan hand tool manufacturers get their raw materials from. If I recall there are some sort of Chinese requirements on their steel quality as their shipping industry (giant shipping container boats) requires it. Can’t just have giant 1000 foot long shipping boats made of crap steel just sinking in the middle of the Pacific Ocean full of goods.

knowing that there are quality metal goods made in china – but if I had to put a foreign country of origin in asia I ‘d prefer India.

My first thought is I agree about being disappointed but

My second though – has the price of the unibits stayed the same for a number of years? I suspect yes – since you mentioned how much pricier the milwaukee ones are. So I wonder if they have stayed the same for a number of years if they became a price point decision against their other similar priced items. At no point have I ever seen an Irwin product scream Made in USA. I mean maybe a few I don’t look that often but I wonder.

But I’m not too surprised I also consider a unibit a throw away item. Not say I use it once but I don’t expect them to last a long time – just in the nature of their use.

What’s particularly galling to me is when the COO changes, but the price doesn’t… It’s not just with tools, try looking for better-branded clothes, shoes, housewares. Coach leather products for example. Once high quality, USA made, now cheap import goods. Still selling at premium prices in department stores. I’m ok with buying on the cheap for some items, but they should actually BE cheap.

That would be the source of my disappointment, probably Stuart’s as well.

I’m still skeptical – I obviously don’t know Wilton’s details but a lot of companies seem to think the only place to save is in the cost of goods sold – items like advertisers, HQ costs, and such seem to be sacrosanct.

And as in the Krispy Creme story, are you losing? If Wilton is just another Asian made vise, why not look at Asian vises from Asian companies?

Brazil SPECIFICALLY? I think that one is crime rate making it expensive to operate there… but I’m not sure. Otherwise, I do agree there’s probably some serious potential in South and Central America as Bi-Directional sub-station production hubs for a lot of these companies. Sure would shorten the shipping costs to Australia and South Africa, that’s for sure. Would be approximately the same, maybe a tiny bit cheaper going North to the US, Mexico, and Canada though. Perhaps Panama or Argentina? Paraguay/Uraguay/Colombia? Give them something way more profitable than narcotics to export? As long as they don’t destroy or defile any of the ancient Inca or Mayan ruins along the way, I agree whole-heartedly Altan. Some production could certainly benefit from going South American.

And as to the Wilton Vices… Honestly, if no one had mentioned they had moved, I wouldn’t have learned the name Wilton for Vices, and has since made me desperately want one, Chinese or not. So, I blame Stuart for planting the seed of a future purchase in my head there.

Stuart is VERY good at getting me to buy things… I really love him for that… Can’t afford much… but I do drool over things I put in the Amazon Wish List because of him. Thanks again Stuart! You Rock, Sir!

I have an Irwin-Hanson branded unibit I bought from our local hardware store 2-3 years ago and it was made in china. I used it a couple of times and haven’t dulled it but I wish it was made in USA. Sad. I needed other sizes so I bought Made in USA Drill Hog from Ebay.

There are countries other than the USA out there. The USA is not the only one that matters. If you’re looking at country of origin as a measure of quality, you’re picking things wrong.

To DELIBERATELY get political, the USA has huge social and economic problems that the politicians don’t care about. What makes you think your patriotism toward such a country matters to a Step-Drill Bit?

Find a way to be okay with this. The world is bigger than just the USA. If you find a trend where the Post-SBD-Sale Irwin bits, of ANY sort, begin to genuinely fail in quality? Stop buying them for the legitimate reason of quality issues. THEN write to SBD and tell them. If they can’t keep up, kiss Irwin goodbye. That’s the reality that US politics has put on SBD, TTI, Bosch, and all the other top level umbrella companies. This is the problem with putting Patriotism before Capitalism. Loyalty and Patriotism toward your country means nothing. Fail rates, loss of revenue, and things that can be potentially sued for in court, they all matter.

The world isn’t the enemy. The USA is NOT the only country in the world, nor is it the best… really at anything anymore. I’m sorry to be blunt here, but the Japanese, Chinese, and Malaysians surpassed the USA in blade making technology in the 1800’s. Their capacity to make tools surpassed the USA in the 1980’s. We’re almost two whole generations of humans past the point where skilled, trained labourers to make everything for tools has existed in the USA alone. The world is a big place, and you’re not the centre of it. Take a breath, and deal with it. Those of us NOT in the USA don’t deserve your flailing anger at these things. We’re not bad people, we don’t deserve your rage, simply because we don’t treat you as #1 anymore.

You’re right, JoeM. The USA is no longer #1 anymore BECAUSE it outsourced it’s manufacturing to places like China, Taiwan and Malaysia, where 19th century working conditions, regulatory absence, and market monopolies are celebrated.

A quick history lesson. Our ascendance to being “#1” during the 20th century came about after the New Deal, after the Glass–Steagall Act, after the gains made through organized labor for better working conditions, and the list goes on.

The wealth created in the United States during the 20th century was produced on the backs of blue-collar workers and the middle class. All of those man and woman hours were taken, pensions were gutted, jobs were stolen, and promises were broken for the sake of cheap, cheap, cheap and more cheap.

If viewing that as a national/human travesty is putting “Patriotism before Capitalism” then count me as guilty. And please excuse me if I don’t roll over and play dead because my heritage was stolen for pennies on the dollar.

Sometimes I feel bad for countries like US and UK, a country without production can not survive easily, a lot of people are jobless, not so many people have proper training, not enough production, almost everything is imported, not whole country can work in finance, banking, council or offices, I see in news that this is happening to Turkey also, partially in Iran as well, what we do in these countries (US, UK, Iran and Turkey) is just construction and mostly junk construction, we don’t build good buildings anymore.

I’d be just as upset if Veritas stopped making woodworking tools in Canada. I was just as upset when SBD stopped selling made-in-UK screwdrivers. It’s also no different if popular brands stopped making hand saws in Japan.

How often do changes like this result in a superior product?

Here’s what’s at the root of my sentiments:

Let’s say there is a bakery and they’re well-known all around for their chocolate cakes. That’s all they do, and they’ve gotten very good at it. You can take their recipe and send it to a different bakery, one that makes all kinds of baked goods, but the new product might never taste the same. Something gets lost along the way.

Maybe I am generalizing based on past experiences, but I am at least open-minded about the possibility the quality might not be diminished.

There are very many good tools made in Taiwan, China, and other countries. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it when I notice changes in the products and brands I favor or used to favor.

For what it’s worth, my disappointment isn’t because the tool production seems to have moved to China, but that it seems to have left the US. Maybe the new bits are good, or even better, or maybe the “recipe” will never turn out quite the same ever again. I don’t like changes, especially those that bring upon uncertainties like this.

I think your disappointment in change and concern for a decline in quality is okay but I hope you recognize that many of your readers object to manufacturing outside of the USA simply because of nationalism and xenophobia and the “‘Merica #1” mindset.

Out of 50+ comments on this post, JoeM’s might be the only one that pointedly recognizes that the USA is not the center of the universe, that our manufacturing ability (in general) is not unique, and that the function we expect of our tools is not either.

I would have appreciated this article more if you had purchased both a Chinese-made Unibit and a USA-made Unibit and compared them as best you could to see if you could identify any difference in quality, precision, or durability.

The intent that went into the post partially stemmed from a feeling that it’s news, and partially to save someone like myself from frustration. I don’t like changes, and like to know what I’m getting.

As bad as it sounds, or maybe it’s a good thing?, I sometimes forget that not everyone sees the world and tool industry in the same way I do.

A few years ago, Radians and Dewalt safety goggle production was moved overseas. https://toolguyd.com/radians-dewalt-goggles-made-in-taiwan/ The same sentiment happened there – I was disappointed. I just don’t like the idea of changes like that. But I’m also the type of person who will notice if one pair of goggles has a neoprene strap and the other elasticized cloth. The goggles I received have been doing alright, and so I might still reorder them (or more replacement lenses) in the future. But, I have also been using Uvex goggles more, and those are my current favorites. My goggle preferences have yo-yoed a little over the years, usually changing due to fitment differences with the style or sizes of corrective glasses I have at the time.

With the goggles, I feel that it would have been nice to somehow know that their production origins had shifted.

As for testing, I was short on time at the store, but there are several tools I added to my shopping list for the next time I’m back at Lowes.

Bridge City Tools shifted production to China as well, and I ordered a small gauge to compare to my USA-made one. It’s always curious to explore potential differences, and I do intend to at least consider evaluating the newer imported Unibits. Or, maybe it’ll be an opportunity to compare different brands, including some new to me.

Try Drill Hog USA for all your step and twist drill sets. Over half the price of Unibits or Lennox everyday @Amazon. And guarenteed for life to the original purchaser. Made in USA by working Americans.

Of course they’re made in China. Why does that come as a surprise? In fact none of the sbd branded drill bits, saw blades, & hand tools are made in the USA. None. So why would the Irwin unibit be an exception? I’m pretty sure they were made in China when they were still owned by Rubbermaid. Although Sbd could have done the right thing and bought the DeWitt plant when they bought the brand from Rubbermaid. Just goes to show how much they care about USA made brand preservation. They certainly had enough money to make it happen.

Thanks for heads up on Irwin; I’ll have to be more careful on reading labels.

I’m in a hospital in the middle of North Carolina’s apple growing region and just had some apple juice. Even though the container carried a famous American brand, the juice was from China (and wasn’t very good either). Is it really that much cheaper to haul juice (or anything else) around the world especially if you factor in the economic and environmental effects?

With things like juice, maybe it’s seasonal or varietal availability more so than price? I will often see labels saying that the juice is made from fruit grown in a list of countries. Maybe cost is a factor, the juice market is highly competitive.

On this one, I can offer a slightly different option, as we have an Apple company a town or two over.

Some Apples are firmer, and contain less juice. Others are sweeter than others. And yet others actually cost many times more to grow, so they are hard to market at all. So, to this I would have to ask you two things, JimM and Stuart:

1) Were the Apples you can see the right kind for Eating, Baking, or Juicing?

2) Do you see a JUICING plant next to the Orchard? Or just some sort of Barn, possibly of unusually large size, possibly a Warehouse?

These are usually the limiting factors for Apple Juice from around the world. Some Orchards grow for direct transport to supermarkets, others to industrial bakeries and likewise to applesauce plants as well. But Juice, purely just Juice, usually requires the Juicing be done as close to the Orchard as possible. From there, some brands sell the real juice to Cider makers, and the Pulp and Juice separately to those who make the frozen concentrate, and a very tiny bit gets turned into literal Juice. The very last one is often the most expensive.

But if you’re drinking Apple Juice made in China, then it’s probably just a matter of them making it from concentrate. Add in the cost of packaging the way Hospitals use it (Now I echo the sentiment felt by all reading… Get Better Soon Jim!!) and Chinese plastic stamping is so cheap it’s stupid… So it makes sense to buy massive amounts of it, while North American brands like Allen, and Mott’s, take AMERICAN Juice, like the stuff coming from the Orchard out the window, and AMERICAN Concentrate, and bottle it for sale up and down the USA and Canada, allowing them to make much higher quality product for their local market, since it’s much fresher.

Reality is… It’s places like Hospitals and Schools that buy in massive bulk that are the market for China’s Apple Juice from Concentrate. You can buy the good stuff from the local supermarket/grocery store. The taste difference is the species of apple used, and the freshness. Otherwise they are made the exact same way, in different places.

Juice should be made freshly and has to be consumed within 15 minutes, my wife would kick my ass if I buy packed juice more than once a month. I have noticed they don’t bring organic packed juice in any supermarket anymore, maybe it does not work to be really considered as organic… we try to make fresh juice at home.
Get well soon!

I can’t send juice from UK but if your diet allows you to have chocolate I can send you some nice pistachio chocolate.

Amazon’s product descriptions have been wrong before. Just because it says it’s made in the USA doesn’t guarantee that it is. The only certainty is if you order one and the product you receive is said to be made in the USA. And even if it does say that, it could be “new old stock.”

If somebody wants to get one – might be a good time to place an order. If it’s “sold by Amazon”, it will be easy to return it if the part that arrives doesn’t correspond description on the site (third bullet point reads “This product is manufactured in United States”).